Music

1965, Filming began on The Beatles follow up to ‘A Hard Days Night’ on location in the Bahamas with the working title of ‘Eight Arms To Hold You.’

1966, During an 11-date tour of Australia and New Zealand The Rolling Stones played the first of four nights at the Palais Theatre, St Kida, Melbourne.

1967, The Beatles record the piano chord used on “A Day in the Life.” David Crosby pops by Abbey Road studios for a visit.

1971, George Harrison was fined and banned from driving for a year.

1972, Elvis Presley and his wife Priscilla were legally separated. The couple had married in 1967.

1972, Wings played the last date on their 11-date un-announced UK tour at Oxford University.

1974, Rebel Rebel by David Bowie entered the singles chart, the single reached No.5 the following month.

1978, Winners at this years Grammy Awards included Fleetwood Mac, Album of the year for ‘Rumours’, The Eagles, Record of the year for ‘Hotel California’ and Best pop vocal performance, The Bee Gees for ‘How Deep Is Your Love.’

1979, Dire Straits played their first American show when they appeared in Boston.

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She might not be Canadian but she is blond. Today’s cut comes from Debbie Harry. A song you heard in the movie Scarface. Click Tony Montana to play.

Harry was born in Miami, Florida and adopted by Catherine Harry and Richard Smith, gift shop proprietors in Hawthorne, New Jersey.^[1] She attended Hawthorne High School, where she graduated in 1963.^[2] She graduated from Centenary College in Hackettstown, New Jersey, with an Associate of Arts degree in 1965.^{[citation needed]} Before starting her singing career she moved to New York City in the late 1960s and worked as a secretary at BBC Radio‘s office there for one year.^[3] Later, she was a waitress at Max’s Kansas City,^[4] a go-go dancer in Union City, New Jersey discotheque,^{[citation needed]} and a Playboy Bunny.^[5]

Deborah Harry began her musical career in the late ’60s with the folk rock group The Wind in the Willows,^[6] who recorded one album for Capitol Records. Harry then joined The Stilettos, with Elda Gentile and Amanda Jones, in 1974. The Stilettos included her eventual boyfriend and Blondie guitarist Chris Stein.^[7] When Harry and Stein left the Stilletos, they formed Angel and the Snake, with Tish and Snooky Bellomo. Shortly thereafter, Harry and Stein formed Blondie, naming it for the term of address men often yelled at Harry.^[8] Blondie quickly became regulars at Max’s Kansas City and CBGB in New York City.^[4] After a debut album in 1976, commercial success followed in the late 1970s to the early 1980s, first in Australia and Europe, then in the United States.

While leading Blondie, Harry and Stein became life as well as musical partners, although they never married; Harry has no children.^[9] In the mid-1980s, she took a few years off to care for Stein while he suffered with Pemphigus, a rare autoimmune disease that effects the skin and mucous membranes. Stein and Harry broke up in the 1990s, but they’ve continued to work together. In 1999, Harry was deemed the 12th greatest woman of rock and roll by VH1′s 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll^[10] and in 2002, she was called the 18th sexiest artist of all time by VH1′s 100 Sexiest Artists. (read more…)

Mardi Gras may be over, but the music keeps rolling on. Jessie Hill was originally a drummer who backed both Professor Longhair and Huey “Piano” Smith before turning to vocals striking and out with his own group, The House Rockers. To further heighten his New Orleans pedigree, this track was produced by none other than Allen Toussaint. After its success in 1960, Hill went on to record more records under his own name while backing fellow New Orleans artists like Mac Rebennack (Dr. John) and Harold Battiste. He also wrote songs recorded by Sonny and Cher, Willie Nelson and Ike and Tina Turner. Hill died at the age of 63 in 1996. His grandson is Troy Andrews better known to most as Trombone Shorty.

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1964, New York band The Echoes recruited a new young unknown piano player, named Billy Joel.

1964, Three classic British singles were released, The Rolling Stones ‘Not Fade Away’, (a UK No.3), The Hollies ‘Just One Look’, (a UK No.2), and Billy J Kramer’s ‘Little Children’, (a UK No.1).

1968, Otis Redding had his first entry on the UK singles chart when ‘(Sittin On) The Dock Of The Bay’ entered the chart, it went on to be a No.3 hit.

1970, Simon and Garfunkel went to No.1 on the album chart with ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’. The album went on to stay on the chart for over 300 weeks, returning to the top of the charts on eight separate occasions and spending a total of 41 weeks at No.1.

1970, Having been in release for only 15 weeks, Led Zeppelin II approaches sales of 2 million.

1976, Florence Ballard of The Supremes died of cardiac arrest, aged 32. Ballard had left The Supremes in 1967, lost an $8 million lawsuit against Motown records and was living on welfare when she died.

1976, The Four Seasons were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘December ’63 (Oh What A Night). The group’s only UK No.1.

1977, Fleetwood Mac released ‘Rumours’. The album went on to sell more than 15 million copies world-wide and spent 31 weeks at No.1 on the US chart.

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Every Tuesday is Fat Tuesday when I look in the mirror…bada-bum! Yet, today is Fat Tuesday which in some cultures is a religious holiday. Fat Tuesday is Mardi Gras. “Gras” is French for fat and “Mardi” is French for Tuesday. The annual festivities start on January 6, the Twelfth Night Feast of the Epiphany, when the three kings are supposed to have visited the Christ Child. The festivities build to a climax on Mardi Gras which always occur on the day before Ash Wednesday. The parties and parades will continue until Lent begins at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday. Mardi Gras is a legal holiday in New Orleans. It is scheduled to occur 46 days before Easter. For the rest of us who don’t treat it as a religious holiday, there’s great music like this 1955 track Chenier cut for Specialty Records and those Polish donuts they call Pączki. The Pączki technically should be eaten on the last Thursday before Fat Tuesday, but they are more commonly eaten on Fat Tuesday. Confused? Yup!

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